Author: Ashish Kumar
Sen
Publication: The Asian
Age
Date: November 18, 2000
Respect for Hindu deities
just hit rock bottom. Sittin' Pretty Designs, a Seattle-based company,
is marketing toilet seats decorated with images of Lord Ganesha and Godess
Kali.
Outraged, the Hindu community
in the United States plans to raise a stink.
"Associating toilet seats
with deities that are considered sacred, placed in temples and worshipped
by a billion people is extremely insulting to say the very least," Ajay
Shah, convenor of American Hindus Against Defamation, a coalition of prominent
Hindu organisations devoted to the awareness of proper use of Hindu icons,
told The Asian Age.
Two toilet seat designs
one bearing the image of Lord Ganesha and another with Goddess Kali on
the bottom of the lid are being sold for $130 each. Curiously, the
designs are the only ones featured in the company's "Sacred Seat Collection."
A Houston-based community
worker, Mr Vijay Pallod, said he was outraged at the inappropriate canvas
chosen to depict the deities. "This is certainly not a proper place
to put a picture of a deity many Hindus pray to," said Mr Pallod.
"What is really offensive
is that these two are the only images that have been listed in the 'Sacred
Seat Collection."
Why didn't the manufacturers
have the guts to put pictures of Gods from other religions on the same
toilet seat covers," he asked, answering his own question with, "They know
that if they did this with any other community there would be a huge public
outcry. They wouldn't dare try it."
Ms Beth Kulkarni, a member
of the advisory council at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Houston, disagreed
with Mr Pallod's contention that the Hindu community had been "picked on."
"I don't know why they
did such a thing. Maybe they thought they'd be able to sell their
product," she reasoned, adding that this might just be an "innocent act
by uninformed people." However, Ms Kulkarni agreed that using images of
deities in this manner "was inappropriate."
Mr Shah said, "It is,
in our opinion, an outrageously insensitive use of Hindu symbols.
Sacred Seats with Christian, Jewish or Islamic symbols would have evoked
a vigorous outcry." Hindu community leaders warned that there would be
public outrage as news of the "sacrilege" spread.
"As the Hindu community
learns about this, there will be outrage," admitted Ms Kulkarni.
Mr Shah said AHAD had contacted the manufacturers of the toilet seats and
were waiting for a response before going public with their protest.
"It's a small two-person
company. We'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt until we
hear their explanation," he said, adding, "Maybe they thought this was
something really cool."
Attempts by The Asian
Age to contact officials at Sittin' Pretty Designs for a comment were not
reciprocated. The company's website describes Goddess Kali as "the
fierce Hindu goddess who slays demons and liberates you from the constriction
of your negative thoughts. She destroys all obstacles and frees you
from the darkness of your fears."
The elephant God, Ganesha,
"removes all obstacles, destroys evil and provides you with protection
on your journey," the website says. In a letter sent to Sittin' Pretty
Designs on Thursday, Mr Shah wrote: "I am not certain you realise that
this has already caused tremendous hurt in the community."
Mr Pallod, who said he
had spoken to a handful of his Indian employees at a Thanksgiving luncheon,
added they were aghast. "One of them told me he wanted to shoot the
people who did that," Mr Pallod said. The comment underscored the
brewing anger in the community.
In July, a California-based
shoe manufacturer produced a range of footwear bearing images of Hindu
deities. This met with a huge public outcry from the Hindu community
in the US. Mr Shah said AHAD had 12,582 signatories endorsing an
online protest.
"From past experience
we know 3,000 signatures on an online protest translates into roughly 20,000
angry people," said Mr Shah.
Describing the present
controversy as the "lowest" he has seen in his life, Mr Shah said, "I thought
I had seen the worst when we rallied together to demand the withdrawal
of the insulting footwear. But this is, by far, the most derogatory
insult.
